00:00In a new step for the protection of cats and dogs in Europe, the European Parliament has
00:11backed a draft law on the breeding, housing and handling of these pets. The bill would
00:17make it mandatory to microchip and register cats and dogs in a bid to combat illegal animal
00:23trafficking. MEPs have finally taken a step today that we've been waiting for for years that could
00:30end the illegal pet trade once and for all in Europe. They have made good on at least four
00:35resolutions from the past to ensure that we end up with mandatory identification registration for
00:41all dogs and cats and now we trust that the council and parliament will take this file forward in the
00:47next few weeks during trilog negotiations and look forward to a pretty much perfect law that ultimately
00:53will please citizens and save animals alike. To prevent animal exploitation, MEPs also want to
01:01limit the number of litters a female animal can have in her lifetime. The rules would apply universally
01:07to all breeders regardless of their size. The European Parliament took a positive step in terms
01:13of covering small breeders within the proposal on dogs and cats welfare. This is a huge issue because
01:19in some countries actually it's 80 percent of breeders who are having less than four litters per year
01:24and if this wasn't covered there would be a huge gap for the whole market. There are 127 million cats and
01:32104 million dogs in the European Union and around 44 percent of EU households own a pet.
01:38The annual value of the sector is estimated at 1.3 billion euros.
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